Masamoto Azuma, chairman of the Federation of All Toyota Workers’ Unions, comprised of 312 unions that represent about 329,000 members, reported that “The management’s thinking is very distant from our requests, the rift has remained,” and according to Bloomberg News, Azuma also said that, “This kind of management is just too selfish. They only speak from their own standpoint.”
Wage rises would help insulate households against cost-of-living increases, as well as encourage companies to keep boosting prices. A Tokyo-based auto analyst at Carnorama Japan, Takeshi Miyao, reported that “Toyota has concerns because the domestic market will probably slow down after the increase in the consumption tax, and uncertainties remain in a lot of overseas markets.”
Business has been tough in Japan. Economist Masaaki Kanno said, the nation is within a few years of an overheated job market that makes inflation, not deflation. Brian Lyons, a spokesman for Toyota did not respond to an e-mail request for comment. A spokeswoman for the Toyota City-based company that is the world’s largest automaker, Shino Yamada, said according to Bloomberg Business Week that “We are aware of the role Toyota and the manufacturing industry as a whole are expected to play in revitalizing the economy.”
It has been reported that Toyota’s annual global sales are expected to reach an unprecedented 10 million units this year. A big reason Toyota’s earnings have improved so dramatically is due to cost-cutting. For information about employment opportunities with Toyota please click here.
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